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Hello and welcome to the Greene County Archives' blog, "Out of the Clock Tower". Please join us as we share information on archival issues, news, special events, and highlights from our collection.

Before the archives program began in Greene County in 1996, permanent records were stored in every conceivable space, in basements, garages, and closets. Usually they were in boxes of various shapes and sizes, although seldom adequately labeled, but occasionally they were just in loose piles of books and papers. Most notable were the old records stuffed into the clock tower of the County Courthouse, where they shared their home with pigeon droppings.

Now, there is a clean, environmentally controlled, well appointed location for the county archives, where our historical records are housed in standard sized boxes on steel shelves. We have taken note of their journey in the name for our blog.

When a death certificate for the granddaughter of the deceased was found in an estate file, we had to do a little digging to learn why it was needed, especially considering she died 28 years after her grandmother. As we dug deeper and deeper into the file, we uncovered a curious story.
Sarah J. Hopkins passed in January 1915 and her husband, David, was appointed Administrator of the estate. In the Application for Letters of Administration, David listed four children as next of kin (Fig 1). You will notice that Della Hopkins is listed, but her whereabouts are “not known”, and the amount of personal property is tallied as $940. In June 1917, David Hopkins filed the First and Final Account, in which he only accounted for a total of $940, which was distributed between two separate accounts. Once various fees were paid, it left $672.22 to be distributed to the heirs of the estate (Fig 2).

Fig 1. Application for Letters of Administration

Fig 2. First & Final Account of the Estate of Sarah J. Hopkins

In August 1920, Della Hopkins, the daughter of David and Sarah, filed a Petition to Impeach Account for Fraud, stating that her father omitted $2,000 from the account, committing the “grossest of fraud”, and never filed an inventory of assets, which would have accounted for that missing sum of money. Della claimed that the account should include an additional three notes – two in the amount of $500 each, signed by Lena and A. C. Crothers, Della’s sister and brother-in-law; and one note in the amount of $1,000, signed by Laura and James Racer, Della’s other sister and brother-in-law (Fig 3).

Fig 3. Petition to Impeach Account for Fraud

In December 1920, the Probate Judge ruled that the $1000 note signed by the Racers was not an asset of the estate; however, the two $500 notes from the Crothers were, and Mr. Hopkins was ordered to correct and amend the account, and recover those funds. David Hopkins appealed the decision, but the ruling came back the same. In April 1921, Mr. Hopkins filed the Corrected and Amended Account (Fig 4), and requested time to collect. In September 1921, Mr. Hopkins filed an Application to Compound Claims, requesting to settle and discharge the notes upon payment of $727, claiming that there was severe doubt that they [the Crothers] could pay the full amount, and they offered to pay the above amount as payment in full. The Judge agreed to the terms.

Fig 4. Corrected and Amended Account

Fig 5. Supplementary Distributive Account

It took until July 1922 for David Hopkins to file the Supplementary Distributive Account, in which he lists the distribution of the funds of the estate (Fig 5). The funds were distributed to two of the children, Della and Leander, but Lena Crothers never collected her share. Lena’s share was deposited into the county treasury in 1935. In 1937, Della Hopkins notified the Court that her sister, Lena, was deceased, and she and her niece, Fay Racer, were the only surviving beneficiaries. Della received $94.70 as her share of the distribution, but Fay never requested her share to be disbursed (Fig 6). In December 1943, Della filed an Application for Payment of Funds for Fay’s share, as Fay never received her share and subsequently, passed away (Fig 7). Upon receiving the death certificate of Fay (Racer) Quinn, the Judge ruled that Della was the sole beneficiary of the funds, and ordered the remaining funds be distributed to her (Fig 8).

I’m not sure what the dynamic was for the members of the Hopkins family, and I’m sure there is much more to this story, but it surely is not an uncommon one. Money can lead people to do fantastic things, and many families are estranged due to such financial disagreements, and the Hopkins were not unique in their fight.

Remember when I said last Friday that there was a strange side story? Well, get ready for a crazy tale…

After Simeon Highwarden and Elizabeth Hill ran off to Canada, they did live as husband and wife. After reviewing many records, it appears Elizabeth changed her name to Elizabeth Scott after they moved (we believe Scott was her maiden name, but have been unable to confirm). Although they claimed to be married, I also was unable to find any marriage records for the two. However, the 1871 and 1881 Canada Census lists them as married and living in Ontario. As you can see, they had several children, one of which was Wilson Bertrim “Bert” Highwarden (Figs 1 & 2), whose life takes a tumultuous turn.

Fig 1. 1871 Canada Census (FamilySearch.org)

Fig 2. 1881 Canada Census (Ancestry.com)

At the time of the 1881 Census, Wilson (aka “Bert”) was about 6 years old. I wasn’t able to find much until 1890, when he popped up on the voter registration list for Chicago (Fig 3). This document states he was living in Chicago for almost two years when he registered to vote, meaning he must have moved to the States around 1888 or so.

Fig 3. 1890 Voter Registration for Chicago, IL (Ancestry.com)

Sometime between 1890 and 1898, he met Mabel “Ada” Anderson of Champaign County, Ohio, and on March 30, 1898, they married and were living in Urbana Township (Fig 4). By 1900, they had two children, Donald and Raymond (Fig 5), and by 1910, they had two more children, Ethel and Grace (Fig 6).

Fig 4. 1898 Marriage Record for Bert and Ada (Ancestry.com)

Fig 5. 1900 Census Record (FamilySearch.org)

Fig 6. 1910 Census Record (FamilySearch.org)

Ada and Bert had many problems, and Ada filed for divorce due to his drinking and abusive behavior. Bert did not take kindly to this, and he threatened her life many times – and one fateful day, he carried out his threat. Ada had returned to the home to gather some personal items, and when Bert approached her and told her to remarry him, Ada refused, infuriating him. Within an instant, Bert shot and killed her (Fig 7). Newspapers reported that after killing his wife, Bert “calmly” walked into the police station and turned himself in stating, “she got what was coming to her” (Fig 8). Highwarden was convicted of second degree murder and sentenced to life in prison (Fig 9).

This is where one would think the story ends, right? Well, sadly, it doesn’t. Highwarden only served six years (you read that right) for murdering his wife, and was granted clemency by Governor Cox in 1917. The exact reason wasn’t explicitly listed, but various articles stated it was due to good behavior and staying sober (easy to do when imprisoned) (Fig 10).

After being released, Highwarden returned to Champaign County, and in 1923, he married Rovilla Everett. If you look closely, the marriage records stated Highwarden had no previous marriages (Fig 11). This marriage did not go well either, and within a year of marriage, Rovilla filed for divorce. Highwarden did not approve of this, and without hesitation, shot her several times, killing her.

Highwarden was arrested without incident, but told police that his wife, Rovilla, had been unfaithful. However, that claim did not help him and this time, there was no leniency or clemency. Judge Middleton, the same judge who sentenced him to life in prison for killing his first wife, sentenced him to death by electric chair. Highwarden plead for a new trial, but his request was denied (Fig 12). Highwarden didn’t have long between his trial and sentence of death, and on February 9, 1925, he paid the ultimate price for his crimes (Figs 13 & 14).

Highwarden’s actions not only ended the lives of two women, but forever altered the lives of Ada and Rovilla’s children. Ada’s children went to live with her parents, but all of Rovilla’s children were sent to the children’s home as they had no one to provide for them.

This is a deeply sad story, and although it is not specifically Greene County, I felt it was one that should be told. I also feel that this story just illustrates what one may find when sifting through records – the buried stories of our families and communities.

When I first started back in November, Robin told me about something they found in the Probate records of Amelia Highwarden. Ms. Highwarden was committed to Longview Asylum in 1871, and the medical certificate stating the reason was enough to spark anyone’s interest.

The Medical Certificate of Amelia Highwarden (Fig 1), signed by Dr. Samuel Martin, states the following:
- Amelia is 45 years old;
- Troubles started when “her husband who has been unfaithful and has contracted an improper matrimonial engagement with another woman”; AND
- Cause of the disease is “her menstrual period ceasing”.

When I read her brief history, I was taken aback that anyone would blame menopause instead of her adulterous husband. However, when one takes into account that it was 1871, nothing should be surprising.

Although this is the document that got me interested in Amelia Highwarden, there is more to tell – and there’s even an ever-so-strange side story!

There is little known about Amelia until her marriage to Simeon Highwarden. I’ve been unable to find birth dates for Amelia or Simeon, but according to other records I’ve found, it appears they were born sometime in the 1820s. In many records, Simeon is listed as “African” or “colored”, and Amelia is listed as “colored”. Unfortunately, I’ve been unable to find much about either of them prior to their marriage, so questions like where they were born, were they freed slaves, when were they married previously, are left unanswered. However, I did learn that on November 2, 1854 (however, the court records indicate that the marriage was in October 1857), Amelia A. Ratliff and Simeon (or Simon) Highwarden married in Highland County, Ohio (Fig 2).

Shortly after marrying, Simeon and Amelia, along with her two children from her first marriage (she was widowed), moved to Xenia, Ohio. Amelia’s children inherited $100 from their father’s estate, and that money went to Simeon upon their marriage. In 1862, Amelia and Simeon bought property in Xenia, Lot 1 of the Hugh Carey Addition (Figs 3 & 4), using the children’s inheritance and the money Amelia earned. Records state that Simeon did not keep any job long, so the duties of caring for the family fell on Amelia. Then in 1864, Simeon ran off with Elizabeth Hill of Logan County, moved to Canada, and was living with Elizabeth as husband and wife.

Upon arriving in Canada, Simeon conveyed the property in Xenia, on which Amelia and her children still lived, to J.H. Taylor of Canada for $700, in an attempt to get some cash for the property. When Taylor tried to evict Amelia, she refused to leave and instead, filed a petition for divorce and alimony on March 3, 1865, and later, she sued both Taylor and Highwarden for fraudulent sale of property and to have the property transferred to her sole ownership (Fig 5).

Fig 5. The Xenia Sentinel dated March 17, 1865 (Newspapers.com)

The judge temporarily granted her injunction, until the case was resolved. Amelia claimed that Simeon had no right to sell the property as he did not pay for it. Additionally, Amelia stated that Taylor was aware that Simeon had a “proper” wife and that he had no right to sell without her consent. Taylor claimed that Elizabeth signed the conveyance deed as the owner, therefore, he had rightful ownership. This case took just over a year, but in the end, Amelia triumphed. Not only did she receive judgment in her favor for divorce and alimony, but she also was awarded the rightful ownership of the property (Fig 6). Taylor gave notice that he planned to appeal, but if he did, he was not successful.

Although Amelia got her property, it appears the stress of the situation took its toll on her. The 1870 Census (Fig 7) shows her daughter and granddaughter living with her, but in March 1871, Amelia was committed to the Longview Asylum in Hamilton, Ohio. She was there only a few short months, and in June 1871, Amelia was released after she “recovered her health” (Fig 8).

After release, Amelia returned to her home on East Market Street. The 1880 Census shows that Amelia’s granddaughter still was living with her, and she worked as a “wash woman” (Fig 9). Amelia passed away at her home on September 30, 1884 at the age of 60 (Fig 10).

Now, I know I told you there is a side story I found as I was researching the life of Amelia Highwarden. It does not take place in Greene County, but there is a connection to Simeon Highwarden; however, you’ll have to wait for that crazy story until next week!